The present invention concerns a device for measuring the axial rigidity of the penis, having an electronic design, with which the necessary information can be obtained for studying possible changes or illnesses.
In 1975, and even earlier, some specialists started to use the concept of "rigidity" when they were assessing male impotence, with terms as ambiguous as: "good; average; sufficient or insufficient; short or long; etc."
The need for a parameter that would determine the quality of the erection started to be defined in 1982, as a consequence of the discovery by Dr Virag that an injection of papaverine provoked a relaxation of the arteriolar and trabecular smooth muscle of the cavernous body, causing a rigid erection in the penis. Between 1985/1986 apparatus such as the ART 1000 (USA) appeared, which allowed detection of episodes of tumescence and pseudo-rigidity during sleep in the base and at the tip of the penis, and subsequently the Rigiscan (USA), which allowed measurements of these parameters to be made in a much more precise way from the point of view of determining the quality of erection.
Nevertheless, none of them allowed the degree of axial rigidity at any moment to be evaluated; giving the circumstance that individuals with good rigidity in the base and at the tip of the penis could not maintain satisfactory sexual relations as a consequence of lack of axial rigidity for penetration.
In 1989 Dr Rossello Barbara de Espana created and patented the first mechanical device for measuring the degree of rigidity of the penis in the axial direction (Utility model U8903604, submitted on 20 Nov. 1989), which allows measurement to be made of the force created by the penis in a state of erection for a perfect sexual relation.
This first device showed with practice that although it allows us to determine the maximum force of the penis during an erection, it does not allow us to determine when it undergoes an incurvation as a consequence of any of the illnesses that might be present, and which prevent proper penetration.